Jubilee of Hope brings forgiveness, freedom, family and fullness

Dr. John Bergsma spoke at St. Mark's Parish in Boise in early June. This was in conjunction with his speaking for the Priest Study Days for the Diocese of Boise. (ICR photo/Emily Woodham)

By Emily Woodham

Staff Writer

Each jubilee year, from Biblical times to the present, is an opportunity to receive extra graces from God.

“He wants us to enter into relationship with Him and enjoy His good creation, which He made for us,” said Dr. John Bergsma, Ph.D., during an early June presentation held at St. Mark’s Parish in Boise.

Bergsma’s presentation was given in conjunction with the Priest Study Days for the Diocese of Boise. He is a full professor of theology at Franciscan University in Steubenville and the author of many books. His most recent is “Jesus and the Jubilee: The Biblical Roots of God’s Favor” (Emmaus Road Publishing, 2024).

More than 200 attended his presentation that focused on his book about the Jubilee year, including its biblical roots. He also provided an outline for participating in the Year of Hope proclaimed by Pope Francis at the end of last year.

During his presentation, Bergsma asserted that humans have struggled with receiving all the goodness God intended since Adam's fall. The jubilee year was given in the liturgical calendar to give people a fresh start and the grace to receive God’s gifts. In the Old Testament, God commanded a jubilee year every 50 years to release people from bondage, forgive debts and restore families. For more than 700 years, the Church has also proclaimed jubilee years to offer graces and mercy to help people in their spiritual journeys.

“These are the goods of the Jubilee: forgiveness, freedom, family and fullness,” Bergsma said. The liturgy of the jubilee is meant to keep God’s people free from slavery, false gods, demons and their own unholy desires. 

When Jesus quoted from the prophet Isaiah (Lk 4:16-20), He proclaimed Himself the fulfillment of the prophecy of the one who would bring a perpetual jubilee.

Beginning with the first jubilee declared in the Bible during the leadership of Moses, Dr. Bergsma explained the purpose and powerful graces attached to a jubilee. (ICR photo/Emily Woodham)

“Jesus is the divine Melchizedek, a priest who brought bread and wine and blessed Abraham (Gn 14:17-20). He drives out demons; He forgives sins; He heals,” Bergsma said. “Jesus, the God-Man, takes these jubilee powers to forgive the debt of sin and to free people from slavery to Satan, and He puts those powers onto the Apostles (Mk 3:13-19). He gives the Apostles the freedom to bind and loose (Mt 18:18). By breathing on them (Jn 20:20-23), He is bringing the supernatural jubilee, that never ends because the powers of the jubilee will be passed on from Him to the Apostles to their successors, the bishops and priests, down to the present day.”

During this Year of Hope, Bergsma recommended that people “level up on their participation of the sacraments.” Through the Sacraments as we are forgiven and set free from sin, we enter into a deeper relationship with God and our family in Christ, the Church, Bergsma stated. This freedom and relationship allow us to experience lives that are full of goodness and hope.

“The sacraments are the liturgy of liberty,” he said. “Through the sacraments, we receive the Holy Spirit and strengthen the Spirit in our lives. As St. Paul says in I Corinthians 3:17, ‘Where the spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.’”

Going to Mass and Reconciliation more frequently, Corporal Works of Mercy, reading Sacred Scripture praying the Rosary increase freedom from sin in your life, he added. “The spiritual and corporal works of mercy bring relief of body and soul to other people. We can lean into these practices during the jubilee year, and a plenary indulgence is attached to many of the corporal works of mercy.”

During the Jubilee Year, one can get two indulgences a day: one for oneself and one for another person. Indulgences, plenary (full) and partial, are graces that eliminate (or partially eliminate) the spiritual consequences of sin. Pilgrimages to Rome and other places designated by a bishop are ways to gain indulgences. (For more information on indulgences, visit dioceseofboise.org/jubilee.)

Following his presentation, Dr. Bergsma signed books, including copies of the Ignatius Press Study Bible, in which he and other Catholic scholars contributed commentary. (ICR photos/Emily Woodham)

“Every pilgrimage is like the story of the Prodigal Son,” Bergsma said. “We pilgrims are the prodigal, and we are heading home to be embraced by our Father at the destination, whether we are going on the Camino, Rome or another holy place.”

Hope and mercy do not end with the Jubilee of Hope. Bergsma pointed out that because of the Sacraments we can continue to grow in grace.  

“Some of the rites in the Church understand this really well,” Bergsma explained. “In the Chaldean Rite, they call their sacred liturgy the ‘perpetual jubilee,’ and they divide the church year into seven seasons of seven weeks. Every day, they have a great solemnity because they understand that they're always living in the jubilee cycle.”

Any day of any year, the Sacrament of Reconciliation stands out in fulfilling jubilee promises because through it, our sins are absolved. “Confession has great power, and it is at the center of the jubilee. The confessional is not a judgment chamber, but a liberation chamber.”

Although the Jubilee of Hope is at its midpoint, Bergsma encouraged the faithful that it’s not too late to participate in the jubilee. “Let's try to live the jubilee year with gusto. Let's try to live every day well.”

For more information about participating in the Jubilee of Hope, visit stpaulcenter.com.